


Come Back Home

by Naxxerie (HotShame)



Series: Stony Drabbles [3]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Canon Divergence - Iron Man 3, Established Relationship, M/M, POV Steve Rogers, Somewhere, Superhusbands, Superhusbands (Marvel), Temporary Character Death, i swear to god there's clintasha in here, it's clintasha
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-03
Updated: 2018-06-03
Packaged: 2019-05-17 17:33:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14836097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HotShame/pseuds/Naxxerie
Summary: “All I could think about…is him.”Three years after Tony was declared dead, Steve was sitting alone in an unnamed bar, drowning his thoughts, when he met someone who reminded him so much of his dead husband.





	Come Back Home

“One more,” Steve raised his left hand to signal the bartender. He looked at him with something akin to pity, but Steve was too drunk to even care.

They’ve all looked at him with pity ever since he was forced to bury his husband’s empty casket.

_“We couldn’t find anything left of him,” Natasha said, solemnly. She was supposed to take care of the situation. SHIELD was supposed to handle the situation with the Mandarin. Fury had sent him away, in a resonance mission on hunting down some HYDRA base in Russia. Steve argued to stay, fought so hard to keep his feet on American soil. But Fury was adamant to send him. They’ve assured him that the Mandarin situation has already dealt with._

_“There’s nothing to worry about,” Tony said, with a small smile. He brushed his hands over Steve’s shoulder. It never failed to calm him down. “I’ll be okay,” he said, kissing him._

_Somewhere in the room, Clint faked a gagging noise, while Natasha giggled beside him._

_“But—“ Steve was too stubborn for his own good._

_Tony laughed and kissed him deeply. He hugged him tightly. “I’ll be okay,” he repeated._

_(Steve should have used his enhanced hearing at that time. If he had, he would’ve heard Tony’s voice partially breaking at the end)_

_Steve finally relents. “Okay…” he looked deep into Tony’s eyes._

_Tony laughed and kissed Steve’s eyelids. “Stop being such a mother hen, Steve. I’m Iron Man. I could take care of this.”_

_Steve laughs. “Yes, yes you could.” Ever since he saw his armor soared in the sky in the Battle of New York, he never again doubted the strength of Tony Stark. He hugged him back._

_And when they finished and looked around, the room was already empty. They both stared at each other before laughing._

_Three weeks later, and Steve got a call._

_“It’s Natasha,” he heard a female voice. She shouldn’t be contacting him. Unless—_

_“I’m sorry Steve.”_

Steve closed his eyes as he felt his drink burning in his throat. His eyes watered as he forced his emotion to shut down. He can’t break down now. He raised his hand and ordered a much stronger drink.

“Are you sure, sir?” the bartender asked.

Steve brought his glass down on the table, almost breaking it in half. He pulled out his card on his pocket and pushed it in front of the bartender. “Yes,” he said.

The bartender flinched and immediately took his glass and the card. As he’s preparing Steve’s drink, Steve shouted, “—and make it two!”

The bartender nodded following his orders.

Steve sighed and stared at the table. His vision is swimming but he doesn’t care. Maybe finally, he could without nightmares.

_Steve almost tore the SHIELD base apart. “What the fuck do you mean he’s **dead**?!” he screamed._

_Natasha, hardened with her training with the KGB and SHIELD, actually flinched. Her body is poised for defense and immediate escape, having unconsciously traced hostility in Steve’s actions. She swallowed before speaking, “One week after your departure he was kidnapped by the Mandarin.”_

_“How could you let that happen?!” Steve charged at Natasha._

_She flinched and took a step back, her foot readied for attack when Clint stood between them, his arms on his arrow, trailed towards Steve’s head. But it didn’t deter Steve, he was filled with too much anger and worry and_ fear _. He couldn’t think straight, his mind was whirling. He needed **to move**_   _– to do anything other than standing here. “How could you—“_

_He charged at Clint. Clint’s eyes narrowed as he forced his body to stay put. “Stand down, Steve!” he screamed. When Steve didn’t, Clint withdrew his weapon and used his arrow to attack him. Steve dodged. Natasha suddenly appeared behind Clint and kicked Steve._

_The super soldier was thrown at the other end of the room. The room rattled with the force. Natasha pulled out her gun and fired two shots on either side of Steve’s head. “Stand down,” she repeated, eyes cold and calculated._

_Steve stayed for a while, his mind still catching up with his scattered train of thought._

_Tony’s dead. Tony’s dead. Tony’s dead._

**_And it’s their fault._ **

_Hardened with that resolve, Steve stood up and attacked. Natasha remained standing. She wanted to push the trigger but when she saw Steve’s hollowed eyes filled with sorrow, she knew she couldn’t do it._

_Clint stood in front of her and punched Steve. Steve dodged and countered his attack. They both got tangled up with exchanging blows. Steve managed to get the upper hand and punched Clint on the side. That rattled up Natasha and she immediately engaged in the fight. After two seconds of Clint reassessing his body (Steve barely hold back on his punch), he and Natasha worked together to put Steve down._

_After a minute or two, they succeeded._

_Steve remained on the ground, his eyes blank as he stared at the ceiling. Natasha and Clint, at the side, both catching up their breaths._

_Finally, Steve’s mind caught up. And the tears soon followed._

_“Tell me what happened,” Steve said._

_Natasha and Clint exchanged a look. Natasha took a deep breath. “We traced him back. He was taken to what we believe was the Mandarin’s main headquarters. We immediately flew to his location, but before we could get there,” Natasha paused. Silence surrounded them._

_“We tried, Steve.” Clint continued for her. “The mansion blew up. And we looked, we looked everywhere for him. We didn’t – couldn’t believe that he’ll be there, with his stubbornness,” Clint sneakered. “We searched everywhere for him, and even with JARVIS’s help, we couldn’t find him.”_

_“I’m sorry, Steve,” Natasha’s voice broke down. And she broke down. Clint, by her side, hugged her._

_Steve doesn’t answer. He couldn’t speak. He should’ve been there. He should’ve been more stubborn. He should’ve stayed._

**_Where were you, Steve? Why aren’t you here to protect me?_ ** _Tony’s voice haunted him ever since. **Why aren’t you here?**  He kept on asking._

_And Steve has no answer._

**_Why aren’t you here, Steve? Where were you—_ **

“Steve?”

Steve was jolted awake. He looked around, the bar was empty and the sun was shining over the window. He touched his aching head. Why was the place so bright?

“Steve?”

There it is again, the voice that woke him up. He looked around, but he couldn’t see anyone.

“Steve?”

He looked back, and saw—

“Tony?”

No that can’t be right.

Tony— ** _the man_**  was wearing a plain red shirt and pants. He has a rough and unkempt beard. He was looking at Steve as if he couldn’t believe that Steve’s real.

Well, Steve returns the sentiments. “Who are you?” he asked. He felt like his mind was being torn in half.

“Steve, don’t you remember me?” the man asked. Steve could hear the pain of those words.

He doesn’t have the right to feel  _pained_. He’s not him. He’s not Tony. He’s not his husband.

**_Where were you, Steve?_ **

“Who are you?” he asked, angered. He stood up, clenching and unclenching his fist, as he assessed the man standing in front of him.

“I’m Tony!” the man almost screamed. He immediately recoiled and looked around, as if he just remembered that he’s not supposed to say that.

“No,” Steve said, with much assurance. “You can’t be him,” he was too angered to feel the slight flare of hope surging within him.

“What do you mean--?” The man shook his head. “Urgh, we have to get back to the tower. I’ll explain everything—why the hell are you even here, Steve? I have classier drinks in the Kitchen.” The man said, massaging his eyes as if the sight of the bottles in the bar physically assaulted him.

“They’re not strong enough,” Steve couldn’t stop his mouth from answering. This man spoke too likely to Tony.

The man flinched before sighing. He tried to touch Steve’s hand, but Steve flinched back as if his hands burned him. The man’s eyes turned pained, and Steve felt his heart clenching. The man pulled his hands away and held them up. “Okay, okay. Let’s just go back, Steve.” He said, faking a smile.

“Back to where?” Steve couldn’t breathe. What the hell is this guy talking about? “Who the fuck are you?!” he screamed pushing himself back, putting as much distance before him and the man. “Who the hell are you?!”

**Author's Note:**

> a second part to be posted soon


End file.
